Hundreds line up for flu vaccine

First arrive at 5 a.m. for one of 3,000 shots at clinic in Allentown.

Desperate for a hard-to-find flu shot, 77-year-old Jean Roth of Trexlertown arrived 10 hours early on Tuesday to be first in line for one of 3,000 shots given at a rare community immunization clinic.

She arrived at William T. Harris Agricultural Hall at the Allentown Fairgrounds at 5 a.m.

"I didn't want to be missed," Roth said, dressed in mittens, winter coat and wool hat. The diabetic who takes nine pills a day added, "I had the shot every other year in October. To me it's important."

Officials from Lehigh Valley Hospital and Health Network, which sponsored the clinic, said such a long wait was not necessary or recommended.

"I would have preferred if they all came at 1 p.m.," said Terry Burger, the hospital's infection control manager and one of the officials running the clinic.

Nurses from LVH and the Allentown Bureau of Health began injecting people at 3 p.m. and gave the last shot around 6:30 p.m.

News of a nationwide vaccine shortage at the start of flu season prompted LVH to create an alternate plan for delivering the 10,000 doses it had received.

Instead of holding eight or nine small community clinics, as in previous years, officials decided to give some to doctors' offices, cancer centers and AIDS clinics that were without vaccine, and provide 5,000 doses at two public clinics -- the one held Tuesday and a 2,000-dose clinic set for 3 p.m. Nov. 12 at First Presbyterian Church in Bethlehem.

Reports that 50 million to 60 million doses would be available in the United States instead of 100 million because of a contaminated supply also fueled demand and fears among people not immunized.

By 11: 30 a.m. Tuesday, about 500 people had staked a place in a line that wound around the north side of Ag Hall. Most were older adults bundled in scarves, overcoats and blankets. Many came in wheelchairs or with lawn chairs.

Clowns, a guitar player and other volunteers arrived at 2 p.m. to entertain, serve refreshments and screen those waiting to make sure they are at high risk for the sometimes deadly complications of influenza, an upper respiratory illness.

By the time the doors opened a half-hour later, the line had encircled the building and snaked back and forth as many as 10 times. The fairgrounds parking lot filled up. And inside, another serpentine line and 10 immunization stations awaited.

At 3 p.m., Burger asked nurses from LVH and the Allentown Bureau of Health, "Everybody ready?"

Spontaneous applause provided the answer.

Injections took seconds to administer, and people hustled out with smiles on their faces and free snacks, health tips and hand sanitizer in bags.

Before they got inside, however, many had complained about having to wait in lines under overcast skies, cool temperatures and damp air.

Two older adults bumped or bruised themselves in falls.

"It's a shame we have to sit here and freeze," said Angelo Gatto, 75, of Wescosville. "It's not only me. It's not right for these people to sit in the cold."

Gatto said he needed the vaccine because cancer and its treatments had weakened his defense against disease. He said the shots should have been given through doctors' offices.

Natale Vivian, 67, of Riegelsville likened the rationing and long lines to socialized medicine.

Still others complained that the only refreshments served were hot dogs and sodas, which they could not eat with heart conditions or diabetes.

Burger acknowledged the complaints and regretted having to turn away several people who were not considered high risk or who arrived too late.

"There's no perfect system," she said. "But we are the only ones with a community offering of this magnitude Our goal is to get the vaccine in the arms of people who need it most."

Don Grube of Bethlehem said the hourslong wait, mostly from his car, was worth it.

At 46, he is a disabled construction worker with reflex sympathetic dystrophy, chronic liver and lung disease hoping to get on the liver transplant list at the University of Pennsylvania.

"I have two girls, ages 17 and 13, and I have to be there for them," he said, his voice strained with emotion.

Chris Colona and Stacy Snyder of Fleetwood came prepared at 9 a.m. They brought a day's worth of food and blankets for their 10-month-old son, Brent.

"I had the flu really bad a couple weeks after I had him and heard that it can kill young ones," Stacy Snyder said.

Many tried unsuccessfully to get a shot from their doctor, hospital, drugstore or grocery store.

"This is my third line," said Don Schmidt, 72, of Macungie. He said he waited two hours at one Giant Food Store in Emmaus before the store ran out and an hour at another.

Schmidt didn't like waiting outside any more than those around him, but said, "If I get the shot, you won't hear any complaints."

Roth, who waited the longest as the first in line, did not complain.

"I had a ball out there," she said, waving balloons shaped like a monkey climbing a tree. "I didn't mind [the wait]. I met a lot of really nice people."